Everywhere Minneota players turned, Maranatha guard Alaina Jarnot was there. 

Jarnot smothered the Vikings in the backcourt. She was in every passing lane. She might even show up in their dreams tonight too.

Jarnot had eight steals and scored 17 points to help Maranatha outlast Minneota 76-69 in the Class 1A semifinal Friday at Williams Arena. The Mustangs will play in the championship game for the first time since 2012, when they won the title. 

"I was thinking about where they were going to pass it and I would go as fast as I can," Jarnot said. "I was just feeling it."

The Mustangs had a seven-point lead at halftime when they cranked up the pressure. With Jarnot spearheading their full-court press defense, the Mustangs opened up the second half with a 13-4 run. Lexi Lee's fast-break lay-up off a turnover made it 53-37 with 14 minutes, 6 seconds left. 

"Alaina showed you that quickness that makes her so special," Mustangs head coach Chris Buerman said.

The Vikings ended the game on a 21-4 run to make the score close, but they were never able to find their rhythm. 

"They look to trap and they disrupt your offense. I don't know if we ran an offensive play the whole game," Minneota coach Chad Johnston said. "We allowed them to keep us out of our element a little bit and they're just relentless."

Maranatha forced the Vikings into 29 turnovers and led by as many as 24 points.

"I'm so happy," Jarnot said. "We had an end goal and it's to win the state championship and now that we're playing in the game tomorrow it's the best feeling."

Lexi Lee scored 28 points and Alaina Jarnot added 12 to power Maranatha defeat Minneota 76-69 in the Class 1A semifinal Friday at Williams Arena.

The top-seeded Mustangs' frenetic pace helped them push a seven point halftime lead up to 24 points in the first ten minutes of the second half.

Minneota ended the game on a 21-4, but could not overcome the Mustangs' early second half surge.

Taylor Reiss and Emily Stienessen each scored 21 points to lead the Vikings.

Check back later for more on the game.